McKay School of Education > EIME > Program Overview > Seminars

Educational Inquiry, Measurement, and Evaluation PhD Program Seminars

Seminars are held weekly during fall and winter semester on Tuesdays at noon in room 185 of the McKay Building.

Faculty and students from all departments are invited to attend.

Community of Inquiry

To further enhance education doctoral students’ methodological expertise and to help them acquire the dispositions needed to be contributing professionals, a community of inquiry will be created where education doctoral students and education faculty can come together in a collegial environment in which questioning is not only valued but expected, and where educaiton doctoral students and education professors regularly engage in intellectual interactions that include

1. discussing unsettled theoretical issues, methodological problems, and differing philosophical perspectives;
2. listening to each other’s ideas with respect;
3. challenging each other to clarify concepts underlying differences in their points of view;
4. challenging each other to justify claims by providing supporting reasons or evidence;
5. building on and extending each other’s ideas, and
6. proposing questions and hypotheses for further inquiry.

To create this culture, edcuation doctoral students and education faculty will be provided with regular opportunities to

1. analyze and critique published reports of completed studies,
2. collaborate in designing and conducting new inquiry projects,
3. write proposals for new projects,
4. analyze data from inquiry projects, interpret the findings, and draw warranted conclusions,
5. prepare reports suitable for publication or dissemination to clients and other stakeholders,
6. review and critique prepublication reports of inquiry projects completed by their peers,
7. review and critique proposals written by others,
8. serve as an apprentice consultant helping less experienced researchers solve problems related to research design, data analysis, and interpretation, and
9. participate in a biweekly seminar where education faculty, doctoral students, and guests will be invited to present reports of inquiry projects they have conducted. (Students will earn 0.5 credits per semester and will be expected to enroll for a minimum of four semesters. Each week one or more professors and/or graduate students will be invited to present the results of a study they have completed or to address current issues related to educational research, evaluation, assessment, or policy analysis. At least three times each semester, professionals from other BYU colleges, other universities, or outside agencies will be invited to report the results of their studies or to describe opportunities for potential projects. Hence, students will have opportunities to learn from a diversity of voices and points of view rather than just the perspectives of faculty members within this program.)